Police scandal: Tiny Kankakee County town is divided as heated election nears

April 03, 2009|By Lolly Bowean and Dennis Sullivan, Chicago Tribune and Lolly Bowean is a Tribune reporter; Dennis Sullivan is a freelance reporter.

With only about 1,300 residents, not much happens in the village of Grant Park, Ill., a close-knit community nestled in Kankakee County some 50 miles south of Chicago.

So when the former police chief was accused last year of operating a bogus prostitution sting and pocketing some $400,000, the locals started talking. And when the chief's brother was later appointed to take over for him, the chatter picked up.

Now, as a heated local election draws closer, the scandal has pitched neighbor against neighbor in a town where everyone seems to know everyone else. It has also quieted some residents who are afraid to talk for fear of retaliation or of losing friends. Now tension and division exist in what was a warm, friendly place.

"A trucker said to me, 'Have you got that wreck cleaned up in Grant Park?'" said Robert Jensen, a 78-year-old longtime resident of the town. "The trucker was talking about a train derailment. But someone else spoke up, 'He hasn't gone to court yet.' It's going to be interesting a week from now after all that has transpired."

Chief Scott Fitts, who had headed the department since 1994, was indicted in U.S. District Court in Urbana on 10 counts alleging he ran an illegal prostitution sting and with wire fraud, tax evasion, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators. He pleaded not guilty and is free on $90,000 bail.

Prosecutors said Fitts, of nearby Manteno, was working as a special agent with the U.S. Department of Labor in Chicago in 2005 when he met a woman named "Brooke" who was being arrested on a charge of prostitution.

Soon Fitts, 41, started a fake sting operation with the woman by creating a Web site that lured customers to a hotel in Manteno, officials said. After Fitts allegedly enlisted the help of Grant Park and Manteno police by telling them it was a "local-state-federal operation," men were arrested when they showed up for their "dates," according to court records.

Taken to the Grant Park police station, the men were told to pay hundreds of dollars in fines, and if they wanted to avoid jail and having their names leaked to the media, they could pay an additional $3,500 to make the problem go away, prosecutors allege.

None of the men taken into custody were legitimately arrested. Soon after Fitts stepped down, his brother Tom Fitts was appointed chief. Months later, a Grant Park officer was brought up on disciplinary charges for buying a gun from a resident while on duty. Lt. Steve Marcotte was fired in December but has since filed a lawsuit charging the dismissal was intended to penalize him "for talking to the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service," his attorney, Thomas McGuire, said Thursday.

The scandal split the village.

Eventually neighbors who used to visit each other for dinner, who had known each other since they were little, who had raised their children together, became divided.

"You used to wave when people passed," said Cindy Crowley, who owns a hair salon. "Now you have to be careful because you don't know who wants to throw you under the bus. It's awful."

To some, it's left a tarnished image of Grant Park.

"We're a nice little town -- most people have never even heard of us. Now we're becoming known for this," said Sharon Barrie, 51, a waitress at the USA Family Restaurant.

Fred Meyer Jr., who's running for mayor in Tuesday's election, said people have told him they miss the warm spirit of Grant Park. Meyer faces Laura Veldhuizen and incumbent Robert Schurman, who could not be reached for comment.

"It's a small town; everyone knows each other's business," Meyer said, speaking carefully. "I'd like to think we can come back together ... but it will take a lot of trust."